Arriving back in London from Paris a day before the terror attacks gripped the French capital, Complex spoke with Fekky in a particular sombre and reflective mood. Falling back onto music as a form of therapy reveals its power to move and inspire in a way that spoken words can't quite achieve. With this in mind, it was particularly poignant to find the south London rapper armed with a well-thought-out list of tracks that impacted him most growing up. Every selection is a clear piece of the puzzle that makes the man today, and stems of his many inspirations clearly traceable within his sound, as he gears up to release his debut album early next year.
Where are you at with your debut album, El Clasico? We've been expecting it.
El Clasico will definitely be out early next year. I should have some surprises before the end of the year anyway. The delay was just where I've been on the road so much, but it's all gonna make sense in a couple of weeks.
There's been a bit of a shit-storm this year over rappers being tagged as grime MCs, and vice versa. Quite often, this happens with you—so what's your view on it?
Everyone knows the music I do, and in the UK, some of the music we do is kinda similar; with the grime and trap sounds, it influences each other. I was responsible for one of the biggest grime tunes last year with "Still Sittin' Here". Nobody owns anything to tell me what I can or can't do. Grime or UK hip-hop—it's all the same lifestyle. We all came up the same.
You're closely affiliated with a couple of crews without actually being a fully-fledged member. What's influenced your decision to be a standalone rapper in the game?
Sometimes I feel the crew thing can be too many people in the mix, and also, a lot of these guys have known each other for about ten years. I didn't come into the game when I was 16, I came in with a completely different mentality.
Soundtrack To My Life...
50 Cent – "Many Men (Wish Death)"
!["I feel like when 50 [Cent] came into the game, he was very real. I was driving from when I was young, about 16, and I remember getting his Get Rich Or Die Tryin CD straight from the barbers. The good thing about it was I didn't get to hear him from the hype—I heard it without all of that and straightaway, I was like yeah, 'This guy is sick.'"](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5D3crqpClPY/mqdefault.jpg)
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"I feel like when 50 [Cent] came into the game, he was very real. I was driving from when I was young, about 16, and I remember getting his Get Rich Or Die Tryin CD straight from the barbers. The good thing about it was I didn't get to hear him from the hype—I heard it without all of that and straightaway, I was like yeah, 'This guy is sick.'"
Kanye West – "Jesus Walks"
!["Just the bravery of Kanye West, as an artist, to do a called 'Jesus Walks' was a bold move because not everybody believes in Jesus. I wouldn't even call it a gospel song, but it was brave. That was when I realised Kanye was a bit of a nutter, but he's got his own brain [laughs]."](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MYF7H_fpc-g/mqdefault.jpg)
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"Just the bravery of Kanye West, as an artist, to do a called 'Jesus Walks' was a bold move because not everybody believes in Jesus. I wouldn't even call it a gospel song, but it was brave. That was when I realised Kanye was a bit of a nutter, but he's got his own brain [laughs]."
Jay Z – "Big Pimpin'" f/ UGK
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"Seeing Jay with the bottles of Ace of Spades, the jewels, the lifestyle—that was the first time I had really seen those things. Seeing rappers on yachts, seeing him and Dame Dash's chemistry... I just thought to myself: 'Imagine I was a rapper, I'd have my whole team there with the money, the girls, the bottles.' It probably did have a massive influence on me; with me, things would influence me and I won't even admit they did. Now that I'm older, I sit down and realise all these things have made me the way that I am in the music game. Like you see a lot of grime MCs in tracksuits and stuff, but with me, I'll still have my tracksuit but with a big gold chain and a Rolex as well."
Wiley – "Eskimo"
!["Wiley's whole Eskimo sound, that was when I stopped and was like, 'Wow! This thing is actually going somewhere.' Wiley and Dizzee took it to another level, man. Wiley's one of those people I just met on the roads, like with a lot of the MCs. I was just always about. When those lot were performing, I'd be the guy at the back of the club on the table [laughs]. I've known him for years, and we've always been cool."](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mO3dl25gR_g/mqdefault.jpg)
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"Wiley's whole Eskimo sound, that was when I stopped and was like, 'Wow! This thing is actually going somewhere.' Wiley and Dizzee took it to another level, man. Wiley's one of those people I just met on the roads, like with a lot of the MCs. I was just always about. When those lot were performing, I'd be the guy at the back of the club on the table [laughs]. I've known him for years, and we've always been cool."
Dizzee Rascal – "Stop Dat"
!["Me and Dizzee built a friendship literally from Twitter: he followed me, I followed him back and we got in the studio and made 'Sittin' Here'. Like I mentioned before, both Wiley and Dizzee are cool peoples—and you can tell they've both matured. Whether or not they'll put their differences aside, I honestly don't know. It could just be a matter of seeing each other and speaking. It's all about communication. With some people, I didn't like them and I always felt like I hated them and then we spoke, and it wasn't what I thought it was. They just need to have it out, one-on-one. I'll be the referee [laughs]."](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3awpTfbpyyc/mqdefault.jpg)
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"Me and Dizzee built a friendship literally from Twitter: he followed me, I followed him back and we got in the studio and made 'Sittin' Here'. Like I mentioned before, both Wiley and Dizzee are cool peoples—and you can tell they've both matured. Whether or not they'll put their differences aside, I honestly don't know. It could just be a matter of seeing each other and speaking. It's all about communication. With some people, I didn't like them and I always felt like I hated them and then we spoke, and it wasn't what I thought it was. They just need to have it out, one-on-one. I'll be the referee [laughs]."
Skinnyman – "Council Estate Of Mind"
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"Skinnyman represented that raw form. From the hip-hop side of things, with all the cockney and the language, he just represented the block. To me, it feels like Skinnyman was just a guy you could see walking down the road in my area. He was very relatable and that is important sometimes."
Fela Kuti – "Zombie"
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"Giggs told me the other day that he could tell I listen to Fela Kuti from the beats that I use. He can tell that I appreciate instruments, and sound, and content. Fela and Bob Marley, they would sit there and diss the government. They were rebels who would just say it how it is."
Bob Marley – "No Woman No Cry"
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"I listen to all of Bob Marley's albums. I could literally name 100 of my favourite Bob Marley songs, but let's go with 'No Woman No Cry' because I remember that playing every Sunday in my house."
Tupac – "Hit Em' Up"
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"The next two might be a bit cliché but 'Hit Em' Up', for me, if I ever done a diss track that's exactly how it'd be. I don't do diss tracks, though. I can't take people being disrespectful and I wouldn't want it spilling out in the streets. London's so small that I'll end up bumping into someone, and I'd rather not have that hanging over me. With the grime MCs, I feel like they understand it, but with Tupac and Biggie—look how that ended. I know myself and know the game I'm in, so there's just some things that I would rather avoid."
Biggie Smalls – "Miss U"
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"When I hear 'Miss U', it reminds me of all my people who are either dead or in jail. That one brings back a lot of memories."
Catch Fekky live at UFest on Nov. 28. Tickets and more info can be found right here.
